Monday, December 8, 2008

Instant Oats Idli

Generally speaking the word idli evokes images of steamed savory rice and lentil cakes that are a staple to south Indian homes. These idlis have universal appeal and are favored by most mothers since it tends to be non spicy and a great source of protein especially for vegetarians. The traditional method of making this includes soaking the lentils and rice for several hours, then to stone grind (or machine grind ) this into a smooth batter and then fermenting this batter for about 8 to 10 hours before it is ready to be steamed.

This labor intensive process used to be even more arduous in the days before food processors and machines. I remember seeing my mother grind this on a stone "grinder". I use the term grinder loosely here since all the efforts would be of the person grinding. It was a solid stone container with a large rim and a deep hole in the center to contain the batter that looked like an inverted hat and another large pear shaped stone which would be used to grind the rice and lentils into batter. The soaked lentils/ rice needed to be placed in the center of the stone in the deep hole and place the pear shaped stone over that lentils / rice and crush it and keep rotating the pear shaped stone to make batter.The stone container was so heavy that it could not even be lifted and had to be rolled from its usual resting position to the center of the room to use and rolled back to its usual rest later on. As I watched my mother make batter in this way I used to marvel at how she managed to make this difficult process look really simple . Of course after all that trouble the end product used to be so soft, tender and fluffy. Nowadays though, the stone grinder of the past has almost become extinct and has been replaced by a lot of machine versions that do the same job at a touch of a button.

As with any other type of dish idli's also have instant versions that are quick and flavorful and that do not need grinding and fermenting. One such version is the rava idli that refers to steamed cake made with semolina and yogurt and spices for flavor. This really quick method to make idlis is a life saver on days when time is short.

Using the basic idea of rava idli, I have been substituting it with oats to make for a healthier idli. This was something I tried as yet another way to include the all important oats in our diet. But I loved the soft idlis made with oats so much that I now only make these type of oat idlis whenever I make instant idlis. The oats is so well blended in this dish that you do not miss the semolina, in addition when flavored correctly the addition of oats is not obvious making this an excellent way to sneak oats in with picky eaters :-) So give this a try when you are in the mood for some quick and healthy dish and all you need is some chutney or sambar to make this a complete meal.

Usha...This was a brainwave of a recipe. Just too good. I made it today & so far no one has been able to guess that it has oats in it :-)Just one thought though... I think it would do fine even without the soda. We make regular rava semia idlis this way, without soda & they turn out fine (we add ginger bits too). I read somewhere that cooking with soda kills the vitamin B or C or something like that. Maybe you could research that ? I will too. But thanks for a really fantastic recipe. My promised blog is still in "Never land" because of my neck problem :-(

Hi Usha, made these idlis for dinner today and it tasted very good. Especially my husband liked it very much. The only change I made was adding fine cracked wheat instead of rava. I think that may be the reason for not so fluffy idlis, but anyway we liked it and will be making this quite often. Thank you very much for the recipe.

Hey Cooker, I am so glad you all liked it,yes I agree unless you tell someone they are having oats idli it is difficult to make out...I have never heard about the baking soda thing, will try and research this, you let me know if you find anything in this regard:-)

Thanks a lot for the recipe. I made it today and the idlis turned out very tasty. Although my idlis did not look as white as idlis in the picture and also were not round as the ones in the picture, still they were delicious. Do you think you know what I might have done wrong?

Hi Rashima, Nice to "meet" you, I am so glad that you tried these idlis and liked them. Regarding the shape of the idlis the only thing I can think of is that the yogurt you used may have been a bit thicker than the one I used resulting in a thicker batter, if your yogurt is very thick maybe you could dilute it very slightly or add very little water directly to the batter to make the consistency right. The batter should be of dropping consistency....regarding the color maybe you roasted it a little longer than I did, try roasting for just a minute or two, oats roasts very quickly so that might have made a difference to the color....hope this answers your questions, do get back to me if you have any more doubts and I would love to hear back from you to know if your next attempt turned out better :-)

Hi Usha,I am new to this site. I saw this recipe and tempted to try immediately. My idli's came out so nice and was delicious. before filling the batter, i put grated carrots on the mould and filled the batter in the idli mould. SO it was so coloureful. I tried little of fruits idli. Instead of seasoning green chilli, i added cashew, coconut, raisins slightly roasted in ghee. Wow , children loved it. Thanks a ton for the very healthy, easy recipe. sami

Usha, I would love to try the recipe, but usually I only keep old fashioned oats at home not the 1 minute quick cooking. Do you think the substitution would be okay. Your thoughts are appreciated. Will let you know the results. Thanks for the great work.

Hi Gita, thanks for your visit. I think old fashioned oats should work too, you may have to roast it a little longer and powder it more fine probably to get the texture of medium rawa.Also you may need a little more yogurt....Do let me know if you try it that way and it works out well.

Hi, u hv a neat blog with nice pictures. Have u tried these idlis without the cooking soda? I am hoping to try something with ur recipe as inspiration. do visit my blog when u get to...http://tastefullyveggie.blogspot.com

Aparna, I am glad you liked this idli! Regarding roasting you can definitely powder oats without roasting but I think it may have a somewhat raw taste to it, that is why I roast the oats. Do let me know if you try this without roasting how it turns out......

Hi, Usha. I tried these oat idli. They are my new favorite. I love that you create these healthy innovative dishes based on traditional foods. That is what cuisine is all about. Here is a link to my blogpost where I discuss these idli. http://projectparatha.blogspot.com/2010/10/abondanza.html

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Dedication

This blog is dedicated to three wonderful women in my life who inspire me to give my best to creating the most tasty and healthy dishes.

My mother and my grandmother,two very gifted individuals who not only created magic in their kitchens from the most ordinary ingredients but also created magic in our lives with their love,generosity,spirit and laughter.I cherish the memories of my time with each of them

And my mother in law who with her wonderful smile,resourceful nature and patience continues to guide me,inspire me and makes my time spent with her in the kitchen and out of it, fun.